Book Club Spying
by Muldoon22
Summary: The ladies hold a book club, and the men can't help but eavesdrop.
1. Chapter 1

**I quite enjoy these type of stories involving the romantic affiliations of the group. It might be a cliché now, but I kinda wanted to give my own take. Hope no one who wrote similar stories get upset with me.**

"Tony, are you sure this is wise?" Bruce asked as Tony typed quickly into the computer.

"No. It's genius."

"Spying on the girls? What a cliché." Clint commented as he toyed about with his bow.

"Gives you a chance to see what Darcy is saying about you."

Clint looked at the billionaire. Jane introduced Clint to Darcy when she last visited Thor on the Helicarrier. They seemed to hit it off, but Clint wasn't sure what Darcy thought of him.

"Ok, Stark, you've gouged my interest. What's your strategy?"

"Pepper's started a book club consisting of herself, Natasha, Jane, Darcy and Betty. Today they're talking about _The Great Gatsby_. So I decided to set up a few webcams, see if they have anything good to say about us.

Tony turned it on, with Thor, Clint and Bruce huddling around him. Steve remained on the couch reading a magazine.

"It's impolite to spy on other people, Stark."

Tony turned to look at him. "Why don't you go join them, seeing aas you're doing something similar."

"I'm just saying, they are entitled to privacy."

"Tell that to Natasha, Cap."

"Why would I tell her?"

"Because she's a spy. Now quiet, we might miss something."

The focus turned to the women, who were discussing their favorite passages and characters.

"I think this was my favorite book to read in high school." Jane commented.

"I remember seeing the silent movie version in Russia." Natasha mused.

"Really? Surprised there are still copies of that." Betty said, a little doubtful.

"There aren't, I watched a translated version back during the war."

"Which war?"

Natasha swallowed. "So, Pepper, what say you?"

"I really did like it, but it was hard to read with Tony constantly bugging me."

"Oh?" Darcy asked, amused. "How so?"

"Whenever I sat down to read it, he'd go on and on about how it was the most boring thing he read. Constantly trying to spew spoilers. I had to go to Starbucks in order to get the quiet I need."

"Thor nearly ruined my version by spilling his Asgardian alcohol all over it. Well, actually he did, but he felt bad, so he bought me another copy.`

Back in the boy`s room, Thor spoke. "I do not enjoy seeing Lady Jane disheartened." He turned his attention back to the screen.

"You know, now that we have time to ourselves, I want you all to spill. Tell me some juicy gossip on your male friends." Darcy asked, giddily.

"Well, Tony is starting to devote a little more time to me than he used to, so that's a point in his favor." Pepper said.

"Score." Tony muttered to himself, triumphantly.

"But he has the most horrible snoring problem in the world. It's like a bear dying a painful death."

The girls and the boys, minus Tony belted out laughing.

"It's funny, Thor has a similar issue, but all I have to do is tap him and he ceases doing it, just like that."

Darcy smirked at Jane's statement.

"Wait a minute, Darcy, you started seeing that archer recently right?"

"Yeah, Clint."

"Well, tell us, what do you think about him?"

Clint leaned inward to the screen, anxious to hear how he fared.

"I'd say he's someone I would love to have around more often, if you know what I mean."

Clint did a backflip, followed by a victory dance.

"She likes me!" he said, stumbling over and falling on top of Steve, knocking him to the floor.

"Dammit, Barton!"

Clint smiled sheepishly. "My apologies."

"Ssh, I think Romanoff is about to say something." Tony said.

This caught Steve's attention and he followed Clint back over to the monitor.

"What about you, Natasha? Didn't you go out with Steve a few weeks back?" Betty asked.

"I did."

"And? How did it go?" Pepper semi-demanded.

"He was a perfect gentleman. But I just didn't see too much there. He wants a family and to settle down. I don't think I'm ready for that yet."

"Aww. You guys are cute together, though." Darcy said, disappointed.

Thor patted Steve on the shoulder. "My apologies, Lord Steven. Life beath a bitch on occasion, as Lord Barton has said time and time again."

Steve shrugged. "It's alright. There's plenty of fish in the sea." They turned back to the screen.

"So are you seeing anyone? Jane asked.

"I am, actually."

"Who is it?" Darcy prodded.

"He likes it when I use his full name. His name is Reese G. Vorts. He is an artist."

"Hell of a weird name." Betty commented. "Imagine if you two got married, you'd become Natasha Vorts."

"Well, you never know. This guy seems like the type of guy I want to spend the rest of my life with, but once I'm ready. But Betty, that isn't important, as you've been able to dodge making any comments on you and Bruce."

The women all mock-dramatically turned towards her.

"Well, as you all know, mine and Bruce's situation is quite different. We do try and find some intimacy, without the sex, as it could trigger him transforming, but I love him no matter what. I take whatever I can get, because Bruce deserves to feel that way sometimes."

Bruce smiled a little.

Darcy whipped back around to Natasha.

"This Reese guy, how is he in the sack?"

Jane choked a bit on the coffee she drank. "Darcy!"

Natasha waved her off. "It's alright. To answer your question, I did say he was an artist, right?"

The room exploded with laughter. As they simmered down, Pepper noticed from the corner of her eye a red light.

"Hey, what's that?" she asked, walking towards it.

"Oh shit." Tony said.

"What's oh shit?" Clint asked.

"Low battery."

The men all froze.

"It's a camera!" Pepper said picking it up.

"I have a feeling we're being watched." Betty remarked.

"Yeah. And I know who." Pepper replied. She and the women marched out of the room, camera in their possession and walked in on the men, pretending to look casual.

"Gentlemen, care to explain this?" Pepper asked holding up the camera.

"Whatever do you mean, dear?"

"Don't play dumb with me, I can see you on the computer screen."

Tony looked behind him to see the back of his head on the monitor. He slid over to Thor.

"I thought I told you to unplug it."

"I panicked." The god whispered back.

"Tony, I'm still waiting."

"Ok, ok, I admit it. I let curiosity get the best of me and I installed those cameras.

In outrage, the women walked straight up to their respective partners, minus Natasha, who went to sit down beside Steve.

"Were you watching too?"

"Not really, no. I told them it was wrong."

"That's what I like about you. Honest and respectful to others."

Steve smiled.

"Wanna get out of here? They're having a marathon of old Clark Gable movies at the Royale." Natasha suggested, standing up and offering out her hand.

Steve complied, taking her hand and wrapping his arm around her waist. "Why, that sounds mighty fine to me."

Tony noticed them exiting. "Where are they going?"

"And why are they arm in arm?" Darcy questioned.

"Didn't she say she was seeing someone?" Jane said.

"Yeah. A "Reese G. Vorts"." Clint replied.

Bruce thought to himself for a moment before chuckling.

"What's so funny?" Betty asked.

"Reese G. Vorts is an anagram for Steve Rogers." He replied.

It took a minute for it to sink in with the others. Then delighted grins grew on their faces.

"I told you they were cute together." Darcy remarked.

"Indeed they are." Pepper agreed. "Now ladies, let's go get dressed. The men have so graciously offered to take us out for a nice meal."

The women left, leaving the men behind to realize what was going on.

"I suppose it be adequate punishment for our conduct." Thor theorized.

"I agree. But once we finish, we all need to do some serious snooping on the soldier and the spy." And with that, they exited to prepare for their dates.


	2. Chapter 2

"Tony, we can't see anything." Pepper complained, looking at the computer screen, watching a video Tony was recording. He adjusted the camera a little. "Can you see now?"

"Yup. Much better."

"Tell me again why we're following Steven and Natasha?" Thor asked, Bruce nodding in agreement. They, along with Clint and Tony stood atop a rooftop, while Pepper, Jane, Darcy and Betty watched the scene via Tony's camera.

"Because they decided to have a secret relationship. That and we're all nosy." the billionaire replied.

"They said they were going to the Royale theater, right?" Clint asked.

"I believe so. They're having a series of old movie marathons. Guess Natasha's trying to slowly ween Steve into the newer films he missed out on."

"I've got the theater in my sights." Bruce said.

Tony walked over to where he was and looked through his binoculars. "Ooh, look, they're showing _Blade Runner _here tomorrow."

"Decent." Clint replied.

"The movie is supposed to end at 9. It's 9:20 now."

"Depends on what movie it is."

Bruce took the binoculars. "Laurence Olivier's _Hamlet._"

"That movie is goddamn long." Tony remarked.

"These films seem to be a great source of entertainment." Thor said.

"There are a great amount of good movies out there. You should come with me to see _Blade Runner _tomorrow."

"Ssh, people are exiting." Clint said.

The men on the roof turned their attention to the crowd of people leaving the theater. It took a moment until they spotted the soldier and spy walked out, his arm around her waist.

"There's our white whales."

* * *

Steve picked up the conversation as they walked. "It was alright, but definitely not my genre of film." Steve said.

"Then what is?" Natasha asked.

"I always wanted to see a real good adaption of Dick Tracy or Flash Gordon, the comic strips I used to read."

"They made movies out of those."

"I gotta watch them."

"In good time, Steve. Wanna get some coffee?" she suggested as they stopped in front of an outdoor café.

"Sounds good." They picked out a table, he pulled out a chair for her to sit down, before going inside to place their orders.

"It seems they're getting coffee." Thor pointed out.

"No shit, Sherlock." Clint responded. Thor turned to face him.

"What the fuck did you-"

"Not now, Thor." Tony said.

Steve returned, holding two coffees.

"It's odd. They sell coffee, and yet they look at you funny for asking for it."

Natasha chuckled a little. "It's Starbucks, Steve. They're hipsters."

"Anyway, they recognized you, so they knew exactly what to make." he handed her a cup.

"Thank you."

They talked for awhile before Steve brought up a new discussion

"So how do we deal with Stark and the others?"

"What do you mean?"

"Rooftop across the street."

Without turning her head, she looked. Sure enough, she saw Tony and Thor's heads.

"Let them have their fun."

Steve shrugged. "But I prefer them to respect our privacy."

"With those guys? Kiss that thought goodbye."

"I just wish me and you could spend time together without anyone following us or interrupting, you know?"

Natasha nodded. "I want that too, Steve, but trust me, they aren't going to let up."

Steve thought to himself. "What if we ran away?"

Natasha looked at him. "What are we, 12?"

"Not forever, just for a month or so. It could just be and you."

"That's actually quite tempting." she said.

"What do you say?" he said as he gave her a puppy dog look.

Natasha gave in. "Ok. Let's do it."

"Tonight."

Natasha nearly spit out her coffee. "Tonight? Short notice, don't you think?"

"Just disappear into the night. We have aliases."

"Ok, Rogers, you're running the show."

Tony watched as Steve and Natasha stood up, walking down the street before turning down an alley.

"Shit, I can't see them. Thor, take to the skies."

"Lord Stark, my hammer can only transport me to another destination, not to levitate in the air."

"Damnit. We lost them." Clint muttered, disappointed.

"Sorry, girls, show's over."

The room the girls were in filled with disappointed aww's.

As the men left the rooftop, they failed to notice Steve and Natasha duck out of the alley and into a nearby cab.

"LaGuardia Airport, please." Natasha instructed, giggling.

* * *

"Avengers, your teammates Captain Rogers and Agent Romanoff went off the grid approximately 12 hours ago. None of their known aliases grave been used." Fury announced, angrily.

"And how does that make you feel?" Tony asked. "Angry? Upset? _Furious_?"

"It makes me furious all right. I would have fired hem if they hadn't been part of my top team. But I do want you all to try and get their location. They do not have their phones with them."

"Right away, chief." Clint said. "If I know Natasha, she'd be somewhere in Russia. Or Spain. Or Italy. Or...damnit." he exclaimed, realizing there are thousands of places she could be.

"Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?" Bruce joked.

"I was under the impression we were seeking Lord Steven and Lady Natasha." Thor replied.

"Whoosh." Tony muttered.

* * *

**_Monte Carlo_**

Natasha sat on the beach, looking out to the ocean. Steve came from behind her and sat down, sitting so she was in between his legs and wrapped his arms around her waist.

"How long until they find us?" he asked.

"Maybe two or three days. Tops."

"I think that's all the time I need." he replied, kissing her.


	3. Chapter 3

"This is fun." Tony remarked, as he, Clint, Thor and Bruce scanned the fast moving tracker on the electronic map. "It's like The Amazing Race, but we're not all in competition."

"What do you mean "fun"? We've been trying to find them for a year now!" Clint exclaimed.

Bruce semi-nodded. "It would be overemphasizing if it weren't true. They took off exactly one year ago."

"With not even bidding farewell." Thor added, a bit sad.

"We'll, now with this face tracker me and Bruce designed, we shall find our fellow teammates and gloat in our success."

"We've got a hit!" Bruce exclaimed, the others darting over.

"London, England?" Clint questioned.

"Ah, the land of Harry Potter and bangers and mash and surprisingly great television." Tony said. Clint looked at him. "What? Have you seen _Sherlock_?"

"We got an address as well. I say we go pay them a visit." Bruce suggested.

"Agreed. Avengers, assemble to village of London!" Thor boomed.

"We have officially overused that saying." Clint said as they exited.

* * *

**_London, England_**

The car Tony had rented was cruising through a heavily crowded street. They were driving past Buckingham Palace as they kep an eye out for their target.

"Lives just within walking distance of the Queen? Not bad." Tony said, turning down a road.

"There's the Cask and Case, so they should be living in the apartment building across from-woah." Clint began, before looking out the other window.

They looked up to the towering apartment building as Tony parked up.

"Very ritzy." Bruce complimented.

"Come. Let us confront our fellow brother and sister." Thor said, leading the way across the street. They entered the building and learned they were living in the second apartment on the fifth floor. They entered the elevator and waited as it brought them up. The doors opened and they marched over to the second door and knocked. The door opened and revealed an annoyed Steve.

"Could you knock any harder? There's- oh."

"Found you!" Tony gloated. Thor merely looked quizzical.

"Lord Steven, why did you and Lady Natasha forsake us?"

The sound of a baby crying interrupted their conversation. The 4 looked stunned as Steve smiled.

"Come in and see for yourself."

They quietly entered the apartment and walked into the living room, where Natasha sat cradling a baby. She looked up.

"366 days. You're slacking, Barton." she said as she rocked the infant.

The four men smiled a little. Bruce sat down on a foot stool in front of her.

"I see its a boy. What's his name?"

Natasha looked up to Steve, who sat down beside her. "His name is James." he replied, wrapping his arm around her shoulder.

The four smiled at little James.

"Dibs on godfather!" Tony exclaimed.

"No, I trust you less than Fury. I pick Bruce or Thor. Or Clint." Steve replied.

"Why not all four of us?" Tony suggested, dejected.

"Fine, but as long as Pepper is godmother." Natasha said.

"That's great, but why didn't you come back? Why didn't you call at least?"

"Well, we only really planned to be gone a month. But as we past through London, Natasha began feeling ill. A doctors visit showed she was a month pregnant."

"Steve immediately proposed and we wed a week after. Then, two weeks ago, James was born."

"Do you have jobs?" Clint asked.

"I work On Her Majesty's Secret Service and with MI6. Natasha has an analyst job with London CIA office. Currently on maternity leave."

"So, you've basically settled down here. Are you ever going to come back?"

Steve and Natasha looked at one another. "One day, maybe. But for right now our life here is great."

Tony nodded sadly.

"But hopefully James's godfathers are going to stay for a longer visit." Natasha said in an effort to cheer them up. It worked.

"Oh yeah. And expect weekly visits, too.

_fin_


End file.
